It’s 10/10/10 and I’m in Petersburg, Virginia. Today I’ll be driving to Pembroke, North Carolina for several days of workshops and performances at the University of North Carolina. Yesterday, I walked through the old town historic area of Petersburg, and though it was a beautiful sunny and mild Saturday, there were literally no people to be… Read more »
On Thursday, October 7, after a 2-hour morning drive from Lexington, VA, I arrived at Longwood University in Farmville, VA and met with Chris Thomas, the percussion specialist on the faculty, who organized my visit in coordination with Lauren Weiss’s Percussion Events Registry Company with the support of Vic Firth, Inc. The agenda for my… Read more »
The morning routine on Sunday September 12 was different. Bonnie and Diane left early to spend a day revisiting Kyoto. I slept until 8:00 AM and instead of going to Starbucks, I walked to a nearby AM/PM convenience store to bring some small snaks and iced coffee back to my hotel room, where I wrote… Read more »
Saturday September 11 started with the (by now) normal routine – emails, blogging, Starbucks, “round up” (gathering everything to take to the hall for the concert). At 11:30 AM Kaz (Meguro from Showa) called my room from the hotel lobby. He and his wife, Yashio, had flown down from Yokohama to meet me and NEXUS… Read more »
Friday September 10 began at 6:00 AM again after a solid 7-hours of sleep. Before heading over to the normal NEXUS breakfast gathering at Starbucks, I checked my emails. Yesterday (9th) was Ruth’s and my 42nd anniversary and a very nice email was awaiting me in response to the one I sent last night. After… Read more »
On Thursday, September 9, I was finally able to sleep until 6 AM. After waking up I spent about an hour taking care of emails and then organizing the stuff in my room – concert clothes, suitcase, CDs and bedding to get ready for the open rehearsal taking place this afternoon. I had a nice… Read more »
The entire morning of September 8 was spent writing and posting the previous blogs, of course with a coffee break at Starbuck’s. At 1:30 PM we left the hotel and took the Hankyu Line train to the concert hall for the first full rehearsal with the P.A.C. Orchestra. We arrived just in time to check… Read more »
On Tuesday morning September 7 after the obligatory coffee at Starbuck’s, we decided to go to Kyoto for the unanticipated free day. (The conductor, Yutaka Sado, was only going to rehearse with the brass section this day, so NEXUS was excused.) The train ride to Kyoto was only about 45-minutes at the ridiculously low ticket… Read more »
Monday September 6 began with a wake up at 5:30 AM. At 7 AM Russell and Bonnie called and we went to Starbuck’s again to be joined soon by Garry, Diane and Ryan Scott. At 9 AM we took two taxis to Osaka Castle. This was my third time at this impressive historic site that… Read more »
The 2010/2011 concert season marks the 40th anniversary of NEXUS, and the season begins at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center near Osaka, Japan with three concerts, all of which have been sold-out for weeks in advance. The concerts feature Toru Takemitsu’s “From me flows what you call Time” with the Hyogo Arts Center Orchestra, conducted… Read more »
In 1973 NEXUS was involved in a 2-week residency at York University, just outside of Toronto. Several of us (at least Bob and I) stayed at Robin’s farm house in King City. One afternoon (or evening?) we had some time to kill and as we sat around Robin’s desk we took turns creating doodles on… Read more »
It was with sadness and no small amount of nostalgia that I heard the news last night that Mitch Miller had passed away yesterday at the ripe age of 99. In the 1970s and 1980s Mitch was a frequent guest pops conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He always seemed to enjoy returning to his… Read more »
On July 14, 2010 I facilitated a “Creative Music Making” workshop for 23 participating students as part of the week long Eastman Summer Percussion Institute directed by Michael Burritt. The 2-1/2-hour workshop focused on freeform improvisation, and was based on my book, “Creative Music Making” published by Routledge Books in 2005. Each of the participants… Read more »
Every so often I read an article in one of the local or national newspapers that motivates me to respond with a letter to the newspaper’s editor. A number of these letters in the past have gone to local newspapers responding to articles about the Rochester Philharmonc Orchestra. In my capacity as a past member… Read more »
2010 Sat. June 26 – Bill performs with NEXUS at “The Shops At Don Mills” in Toronto Tuesday, July 6 – Bill performs with NEXUS at The Beethoven Festival in Winona, MN Week of July 11 through 17 – Eastman School of Music Summer Percussion Instutute … Read more »
